How many hashtags should I use on Instagram? - Quick answer

How many hashtags on Instagram should you use is a recurring question. To answer it, Boostfluence first looked at the social network's recommendations. We then weighted our answer by taking into account our experience and analysis of the multiple factors involved.

Instagram's hashtag strategy recommendations

Before asking yourself how many hashtags on Instagram it's relevant to use, it's important to find out from the source what network's recommendations.

Understanding search ranking on Instagram

In its Breaking Down How Instagram Search Works article, the social network reveals its ranking methods for search results. Following a query using one or more keywords, you'll see all the accounts related to your search. The toolbar at the top of the screen gives you the option of then selecting the type of content to refine it. You can choose between:

• all results;
• profiles;
• music;
• hashtags;
• locations.

Instagram establishes its ranking by taking into account 3 parameters.

1. Keywords are the overriding criterion for offering you a result mixing hashtags, biographies, usernames, locations and captions.
2. Your general activity on Instagram is scrutinized by the algorithms by listing all your interactions. As a result, the accounts you visit most regularly, as well as those you subscribe to, will appear at the top of the results.
   
   During this stage, Instagram takes hashtags into account, displaying as a priority those you visit and follow.
3. Search popularity represents the final sorting criterion. In the presence of a large number of potential results, the platform relies on popularity criteria, which translate into the number of clicks, likes, shares and follows for a particular account, hashtag or location.

{{INTERN}}

As a result, the same query will lead to different results depending on the user.

How many hashtags on Instagram does the platform recommend?

To determine how many hashtags on Instagram you should use, there are two pieces of information from the social network to consider:

1. the number of Instagram hashtags allowed, which is 30;
2. the number of Instagram hashtags recommended, which falls between 10 and 15.

We'll see below how Boostfluence recommends you deal with these two elements.

Why use hashtags on your publications?

There are many reasons to use hashtags in your publications.

Helping your target find you

The hashtags you use help you get noticed by a target that's interested in your topics. Thanks to this consistency, you gain new subscribers.

Fostering your subscribers' engagement

Subscribers engage more easily at the sight of hashtags that touch them. In addition, your publications associated with other posts using the same hashtags become visible to potential new subscribers.

If your choice of hashtags proves timely, you gain "like" mentions, comments, shares, as well as new subscribers.

Share a popular cause

The hashtag allows you to address unifying topics. By taking an interest in a popular cause, you spark the interest and empathy that win you new followers.

Bringing awareness to your brand

Instagram lets you take advantage of the instant virality unique to social networks, but also inscribes your brand for the long term. By creating your own hashtag, you familiarize Instagramers with your name and consequently increase your brand awareness.

Lighten up your writing

The hashtag allows you to contextualize your publications and thus save words in the post. Indeed, rather than repeating yourself in the text, your hashtag effectively synthesizes your topic and lightens your writing.

How many Instagram hashtags should be put per post?

There's a lot of debate about how many hashtags on Instagram should be added. Boostfluence advises you to use the high range recommended by the platform itself, namely 15.

Quality rather than quantity

Using the maximum permitted number of 30 hashtags seems excessive to us. It seems preferable to restrict your selection, in order to target your audience more finely. Indeed, it's not interesting to target a large number of visitors, if they're not directly concerned by your subject. Never forget that Instagram users are extremely solicited, which pushes them to be more demanding when it comes to content relevance.

To determine how many hashtags on Instagram to use, we rely on the various experiments pursued, as well as our own experience. A total of 15 hashtags seems perfectly measured to us, especially as the relevance of this figure has proved stable over the last few years.

How many #s on Instagram for a new account?

Determining how many hashtags on Instagram to add depends, however, on the quality of your account. If it's recent and/or doesn't yet enjoy a large audience, we recommend using the maximum number of hashtags allowed, i.e. 30.

Once your audience has taken off, go back to 15 hashtags.

5 best practices to help you choose the best hashtags

Boostfluence has devoted an article to how to use hashtags to boost your visibility on Instagram. Here are 5 more tips for choosing your hashtags wisely.

<1 - Do keyword research

Don't jump in headlong, but take the time to research the most relevant keywords. The first ones that come to mind are the most obvious. Then widen your field and don't neglect synonyms.

Use Instagram search to help you: type in your keyword query, then launch the search. Then click on the hash sign, just below the search bar, to access the list of associated hashtags.

Also remember to observe your competitors' hashtags for inspiration if their strategy proves effective.

2 - Identify popular hashtags

In addition to being relevant, your hashtags need to be popular to meet their audience. Explore each of the results to ascertain the number of associated publications. However, you should avoid hashtags that are too popular, as you risk becoming invisible in the face of the profusion of results.

Make sure that the dates on which posts including a popular hashtag were published are recent enough to still be relevant.

3 - Incorporate niche hashtags

Niche hashtags allow you to better target your audience. If the potential of followers is restricted, you'll gain in engagement, with a more concerned audience.

4 - Insert the hashtag sticker in your stories

Instagram provides you with a sticker to add hashtags to your stories, which mechanically gives them better visibility. A single hashtag sticker can be inserted, but you can then add more manually, via the text editor. All will be clickable.

5 - Analyze your performance

Variety your hashtags and analyze their performance. This will help you determine which ones to prioritize.

You now know how many #s on Instagram are recommended, all that's left is to build your strategy to determine which ones perform best. To do this, we invite you to consult Boostfluence's complete guide to hashtags.